


In Another Life

by aryasnark



Category: Cinderella (2015)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-18
Updated: 2015-04-18
Packaged: 2018-03-24 15:38:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3774118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aryasnark/pseuds/aryasnark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Ella's father had never remarried?</p><p>(request fic)</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Another Life

Ella had lived a wonderful youth. In her childhood she had been surrounded by her mother and father, and all their staff and animal family. Ella's life had been nothing short of a fairytale. 

She had spent her days horseback riding with her mother, reading stories with her father, and cooking sweets with the cook, Flora. And at night her parents had tucked her into bed while her mother had sang a lullaby. 

However, the blissful happiness had not lasted long enough. Ella's mother had fallen ill, and she had soon passed away. On her death bed she had made Ella promise to always have courage and be kind. It was the promise Ella had always intended to keep, and the one she had never once broken in her life.

It took a while for Ella and her father to recover after the tragedy. But eventually, little by little, they did. Ella started seeing a smile on her father's face again, and he started reading stories to her again, the way he had done before.

Ella knew that her father was lonely, and she tried very hard to keep him happy. For the most part it worked, but she could see how much he missed her mother. Just as much as she did, or perhaps even more, if that were possible.

Ella's father had never remarried. He had considered it once or twice. The closest call had been when the wife of Sir Francis Tremaine had been left a widow after her husband's passing. 

Ella's father, who had become acquainted with the woman during his travels, had considered taking her in along with her two daughters. But in the end he had decided against it, and Ella and her father were the only ones to occupy the large family house. Aside from the staff and the animals, of course.

Even though Ella's father never mentioned it, he was worried about his daughter. She was a very sheltered young lady, always spending time at home, mostly with him and the staff. 

He worried she might be in need of friends of her own age. But he didn't dare present this proposition to her. She always seemed so very happy. Who was he to ruin that? And besides, Ella didn't need to be like everyone else. She was just perfect the way she was.

On a very peculiar day, however, Ella's father came home with some news. He told his daughter that the prince would be visiting the village the following day. 

All the young ladies were more than flustered about this, and Ella's father had merely overheard some of them gossiping about it. Even though Ella's father knew his daughter was one of a kind, he still guessed she might have some interest towards meeting the prince.

And even though she hardly showed it, she did.

The next morning Ella saddled up her horse and rode into town, wearing her favorite blue gown, her hair flying free. She didn't know why the prince was coming into the village, nor did she think it mattered. It was not unheard of for the royals to pay casual visits to their commoners' homes to show solidarity towards the people. 

Unlike the other girls, Ella did not wish to win over the prince's heart. She merely wanted to see him, just by a glance. She was a curious soul, after all, and what harm was there in taking a look?

As she had suspected, when she arrived, the courtyard was full of people, mostly young ladies. Ella got off her horse, tying it to a pole before approaching the crowd. She could see multiple people of the royal household in front of her, that much was clear from their fancy clothing. 

But what struck her the most was the man in the middle, wearing a green jacket and a kind smile. His blue eyes were piercingly beautiful, and he was engaged in a conversation with an elderly couple that Ella recognized as the owners of the bakery. 

"Is that the prince?" she asked the girl standing next to her, who nodded, her eyes on him.

"Isn't he dashing?"

Ella could not disagree. It wasn't like she had much to compare the man to, but he truly was dashing. Not only by his appearance, though. He seemed to have a very kind soul, too. And that was what Ella was most impressed with.

She knew that she'd never get a chance to exchange a word with the prince, so with that she was ready to get back to her horse. 

To her surprise, she heard a man's voice call for her: "Miss!"

She turned around, and watched in awe as the prince walked over to her, smiling as he picked up the shoe she had dropped while stumbling away from the crowd. And she hadn't even noticed.

"Oh", Ella blushed, moving her hand to cover the astonished look on her face. "Your Majesty, forgive me."

"You did nothing that requires forgiveness, my lady, I assure you", the prince said with a kind smile, momentarily ignoring everyone around them. "May I?"

Ella realized that what the prince wanted to do was kneel in front of her and place the shoe back on. A prince kneeling in front of her in a crowded courtyard. It hardly seemed possible.

"Thank you", was all she got out in the end, and she smiled as she watched the prince give her the most charming smile she'd ever received. She stood in silence as the prince knelt in front of her, probably ruining the beautiful, white pants of his, and gently placed the shoe back on her foot.

Ella could practically feel the jealousy of the girls around them, but at that moment she didn't mind. She kept her eyes locked with the prince's as he stood back up, smiling.

"There."

"There", Ella concluded. "Thank you very much, Your Majesty."

"Call me Kit", Kit said quickly, as if he did not wish to be addressed in such a formal manner. "Please."

"Kit", Ella said, smiling. "Thank you." With that she curtsied, knowing that their moment was very much over as one of the other women began pulling Kit towards the crowd of people. She could feel his eyes on her as she returned to her horse.

As she got on, she also locked eyes with the handsome prince, giving him one last smile. She knew she'd probably never see him again, but she was more than grateful that she had taken her father's advice to visit the village that day.

**Author's Note:**

> I enjoyed this. I really like this concept, and I was really pleased to write it :)


End file.
